It must be frustrating
to play the lute if you’re a Bach lover.
The amount of music Bach wrote for lute
is very limited; it fits on a mere two
CDs. While this oeuvre is, perhaps,
the most impressive of the baroque period,
once you’re recorded it, you’re all
out of Bach. More and more lutenists,
and guitarists, are now turning to transcriptions
of Bach’s other instrumental works that
are suitable for the lute. These are
limited to another small group: the
sonatas and partitas for solo violin,
and the cello suites. Nigel North, one
of today’s most interesting lutenists,
here presents transcriptions of these
works in a 4-CD set, which is a re-release
of earlier discs.

Those unfamiliar with
the instrument may wonder, however,
what justification there is for transcribing
such works for a radically different
instrument; plucked rather than bowed?
Well, since many of Bach’s lute works
were already transcriptions of other
works there is certainly justification
for this. Take the examples of the fugue
BWV 1000, which is a transcription of
the second movement of the BWV 1001
sonata; or the G minor suite for lute,
BWV 995, which is a transcription of
the BWV 1011 cello suite. And, since
many of the works that Bach himself
transcribed come from this body of violin
and cello works, there are already clues
as to how to transcribe the remaining
pieces.

North, in the liner-notes
to this set, points out how some of
the works "feel natural and satisfying
... to play on the lute", and how
others are more "awkward to play".
North performs all but two of the violin
works in their original keys; changes
were needed to "fit" these
pieces for the lute. His transcriptions
are, of course, his own, and one might
wish to quibble with certain voicings
and phrasings here and there, but it
is best to approach them as unique pieces
of music and not compare them with the
originals.

Listening to these
works, one cannot ignore the peaceful
tone that comes from the lute, unlike
the broader dynamics of the violin or
cello, but also the lovely resonance
that is apparent in the instrument used
for these recordings. The recording
bears none of the artificial reverberation
that is often hear with such "weak"
instruments, and sounds close and rich.
North’s tempi are lively and the instrument
loses no detail in the faster passages.

Personally, these works
are among my favourites of all of Bach’s
music. The sonatas and partitas present
a varied group of styles and tones -
ranging from the marvellous fugue in
the first sonata to the well-known chaconne
in the second partita. This is a catalogue
of forms and styles. The cello suites
are much more ordered in their structure,
in the "French" form, with
preludes and five dances for each suite.
But taken altogether, over these four
discs, the works take on a homogeneity
that one cannot hear with the original
instruments. Bach’s different styles
for the two original instruments come
together here in a single form that
works quite well.

North is naturally
not the first performer to transcribe
these works. Paul Galbraith has notably
recorded the sonatas and partitas for
eight-string guitar; Hopkinson Smith
has recorded them as well, along with
several of the cello suites; and Pascal
Montheilet has recorded all the cello
suites for theorbo. This is to point
out how these works fit well to plucked
instruments. Naturally, the rapid decay
of gut strings changes the music, especially
in the slower movements of the cello
suites, but the result is never that
of a poor relation to the original;
North’s recordings give you all the
music, just differently. It is a huge
pleasure to listen to this set, to discover
new intricacies in the music that the
lute can highlight more than bowed instruments,
and to have the simple joy of hearing
what is extremely peaceful music; I
except some of the faster movements,
such as the chaconne of the BWV 1004
partita. I feel the cello suites work
better on plucked instruments, in general,
but this is not to say that the violin
works are not successful; it is simply,
perhaps, that the difference is more
apparent, with the violin being further
from the lute’s range.

All in all, this is
a lovely set, the result of great attention
to the music and very detailed performance.
The recording quality is excellent and
getting all four of these discs at such
a low price is a great bargain. North
is in his element here, with sensitive
playing and overall fine transcriptions
that do not change Bach’s music, but
rather adapt it to this beautiful instrument.

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